Scouting the series

Bill Harford sees more Chicago baseball than anyone while filling out reports for the Twins, Expos, Cardinals and Cubs.

As a near-daily visitor to Chicago ballparks, he will provide his scout's-eye view of the Cubs and White Sox weekend series that begin Friday at U.S. Cellular Field.

Offensive factor: "I'd probably give a slight edge to the White Sox, even though Sammy [Sosa] is back. The Sox are at an advantage because they can use Frank [Thomas] as DH. But they are very similar."

Defensive factor: "Outfield goes to the Cubs, and in the infield the Cubs are way ahead with Derrek Lee."

Starting factor: "When the Cubs are healthy, they're as good [a rotation] as any in baseball. The Cubs will miss [Mark] Buehrle, and the Cubs will have [Mark] Prior, [Carlos] Zambrano and [Greg] Maddux."

Bullpen factor: "The bullpens are similar, but I'd rather have LaTroy Hawkins to close a game over Shingo [Takatsu]."

Final factor: "The White Sox have a very good offense, but when [healthy] the Cubs pitching is a lot better. And pitching wins baseball games."

But scouts don't always file the whole story, so we'll offer some other factors:

Home-field factor: The Cubs are 20-16 on the road this season, third most victories in the majors, while the White Sox are 22-14 at home. But the home team always should have the advantage.

History factor: The Cubs are only 7-11 in games that count on the South Side.

Fear factor: The Cell will be sold out, and the place will be rocking. This will be very strange for the Sox, who have played before only seven crowds of 30,000 or more. Heck, the Cubs average 37,000 fans on the road, which would be a small turnout at Wrigley Field. The Cubs faced a hostile environment in St. Louis, so they won't be intimidated. Advantage North Siders.

Injury factor: Magglio Ordonez may not play for the White Sox, while Sammy Sosa and Mark Grudzielanek are back (albeit not at top form). Advantage Cubs.

CROSSTOWN CRAZINESS

Suck it up

The crosstown series isn't about who wins or loses, it's about who sucks more. To settle this, we go to the Google fight.

Searching for the phrase "Cubs suck" turned up: 2,060 results.

Searching for the phrase "White Sox suck" turned up: 572 results.

The Cubs' suckiness even spawned a Web site, cubssuck.knup.net, which touts its "Cubs Suckcessories." Soxsuck.com, however, is devoted to blasting the Boston Red Sox.